DFLers to decide district’s post-Sabo direction
08/18/2006
4 distinct candidates in primary, with winner likely going to Congress
BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press
For 28 years, U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo has been bringing home the bacon, not only for his home city of Minneapolis but also for the entire metro region and the state of Minnesota.
As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, the Democratic congressman, who is retiring this year, was responsible for getting hundreds of millions of federal dollars for roads, transit projects, housing, community centers and subsidies for law enforcement and social programs.
Sabo’s successor won’t have nearly as much clout in Congress, at least not for several years. But the 5th District, comprising Minneapolis and 12 first- and second-ring suburbs, is the most heavily Democratic district in Minnesota. The winner of the Sept. 12 Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary will be the overwhelming favorite in the Nov. 7 general election and a good bet to hold that safe Democratic seat for years to come.
“The primary will be a referendum on what direction the voters in the 5th District want to go over the next 10 to 20 years,” said former state DFL Chairman Mark Andrew of Minneapolis.
The race could be a pivotal one. Possible results: Minnesota’s first African-American congressman, who also would be the first Muslim ever elected to Congress; a second woman added to Minnesota’s 10-member congressional delegation; a veteran Washington insider; or a Minneapolis City Council member with his fingers on the pulse of the city’s neighborhoods.
DFL leaders agree they have four distinct, viable candidates in the race. They are:
- State Rep. Keith Ellison of Minneapolis, the DFL-endorsed candidate and a liberal firebrand in the mold of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone.
- Former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge of New Hope, a moderate with a strong base of support among women and suburban voters.
- Former state DFL Chairman Mike Erlandson of Minneapolis, a liberal and consummate party insider who was Sabo’s chief of staff for 13 years.
- Minneapolis City Council Member Paul Ostrow, a self-described “pragmatic, progressive populist” with a smaller base than the other candidates but strong grass-roots connections.
Three other candidates - Andrew Favorite and Gregg Iverson, both of Minneapolis, and Patrick Wiles of Robbinsdale - also filed to run in the DFL primary, but party leaders said they aren’t waging serious campaigns.
ELLISON A FRONTRUNNER
With the endorsements of the DFL and the most influential labor unions in the district, Ellison could be the front-runner. But he stumbled into some controversies coming out of the May 6 DFL endorsing convention.
He was forced to explain his association with the Nation of Islam and its controversial leader, Louis Farrakhan. Ellison, a Muslim, has denounced Farrakhan.
His only connection with the Nation of Islam, he said in an interview last week, was in helping to organize the 1995 Million Man March. He did so, he said, because he wanted to help African-American men who were struggling to find jobs get an education and avoid crime.
Last month, news reports revealed that Ellison’s driver’s license had recently been suspended for nonpayment of parking tickets and that he had been fined for failing to file state campaign finance reports on time.
Ellison has apologized for those mistakes. “I’m sorry about it. I’ve fixed it,” he said.
Now that’s behind him, he said, and he’s moving on.
He calls himself “the proven progressive in this race.” He has called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and was speaking at peace rallies against the war long before the other candidates denounced it.
He’s the only candidate advocating a government-run, single-payer universal health care system. He has called for impeaching President Bush.
One of the Legislature’s most passionate and eloquent speakers, he said he’s the only candidate with a history of “challenging institutionalized power when necessary.”
State DFL Chairman Brian Melendez said Ellison has an edge in the race.
“The endorsement means a small army of foot soldiers out pounding the pavement for Keith,” he said.
Ellison’s name will be on the DFL sample ballot that will be mailed to Democrats’ homes.
“That doesn’t win it for you, but it gives you a leg up,” Melendez said.
REICHGOTT JUNGE EXPERIENCED
Reichgott Junge is running as the most experienced candidate in the race. She served in the state Senate for 18 years, rising to assistant majority leader before stepping down in 2000. Since then she has practiced business law, headed the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus and appeared on radio and television as a political commentator.
She’s running for two reasons. “I wanted to make sure there was a pro-choice woman on the Democratic ballot,” she said.
After four members of her family died in the past four years, she’s also on a crusade to provide universal health care. She wants Congress to require states to offer health insurance to all citizens but let each state devise its own plan.
In 1998, Reichgott Junge finished a distant third in the DFL primary for attorney general, despite having the party’s endorsement. As a result, some DFLers dismissed her as a lackluster campaigner.
But she made many critics reconsider in early July when she demonstrated she was by far the leading fundraiser in the race. She had raised $234,000, compared with Erlandson’s $171,000, Ellison’s $166,000 and Ostrow’s $103,000.
She got another fundraising boost this week with the endorsement of EMILY’S List, the nation’s largest political action committee, which raises money for female Democratic candidates by asking its 100,000-plus members to contribute to its favored candidates.
“We are well positioned to win,” she said. She’s the only woman running in a district where her polling shows 58 percent of the primary voters are women. She’s the only suburban candidate, and suburbanites comprise about 42 percent of the district’s voters.
ERLANDSON AN “INSIDER”
Erlandson is running as the insider who can get things done.
“I could be the most effective member of Congress in the shortest period of time,” he said, citing his 19 years of work on Sabo’s staff and six years as a highly visible state DFL chairman.
As Sabo’s aide, he said he helped deliver more than $1 billion in federal funds to the district for such things as senior housing, battered women’s shelters, light-rail transit and crime-fighting programs. That work connected him to both city and suburban voters, he said.
As DFL chairman, he was the party’s chief cheerleader for its endorsed candidates. Now he’s in the paradoxical position of challenging an endorsee, and that angers many DFL activists.
Sabo has endorsed him, and Erlandson’s strategy is to go after Sabo’s loyal voters, mostly seniors. He said nearly 75 percent of 5th District voters are over age 50, and 35 percent are over 70.
OSTROW “CONNECTED”
The conventional wisdom about Ostrow among DFL insiders is that he’s an excellent candidate but with a small political base, which is his Northeast Minneapolis ward. He represents about 30,000 residents - less than 10 percent of the district’s voters.
But Ostrow grew up in Golden Valley and still has suburban connections, he said. Moreover, he represented the entire city of Minneapolis as council president from 2002 to this year.
Like the other three top contenders, he’s a liberal on most policy issues. What distinguishes him, he said, is that “I’m deeply connected to the people of this community. I know from firsthand, personal experience the issues and concerns of people.”
Ostrow acknowledged he’ll probably be outspent by the other candidates, but he thinks his campaign can out-hustle them at the grass-roots level.
“We are knocking on about 1,200 doors a night,” he said.
5TH DISTRICT CANDIDATES
KEITH ELLISON
Age: 43
Residence: Lives in Minneapolis; born and raised in Detroit
Family: Wife, Kim; four children
Education: Bachelor’s degree in economics from Wayne State University in Detroit; law degree from University of Minnesota
Employment: Practices law in Minneapolis, 1990-present
Political experience: Elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2002; re-elected in 2004
MIKE ERLANDSON
Age: 42
Residence: Lives in Minneapolis; grew up in Fridley; graduated from Columbia Heights High School
Family: Wife, Dawn; two children
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.
Employment: Aide to U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo, 1987-2006; chief of Sabo’s staff, 1993-2006
Political experience: Minnesota state DFL chairman, 1999-2005
PAUL OSTROW
Age: 47
Residence: Lives in Minneapolis; born in Chicago; grew up in Golden Valley
Family: Wife, Julie; two children
Education: Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.; law degree from the University of Minnesota
Employment: Assistant Blue Earth County attorney, 1984-86; practiced law in Minneapolis, 1986-97
Political experience: Elected to the Minneapolis City Council in 1997; serving third term
EMBER REICHGOTT JUNGE
Age: 52
Residence: Lives in New Hope; grew up in Robbinsdale
Family: Husband, Michael
Education: Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.; law degree from Duke University; master’s of business administration from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul
Employment: Practiced law in the Twin Cities, 1977-present; radio talk show host on AM 950 Air America Radio
Political experience: Elected to Minnesota Senate in 1982; served five terms through 2000; assistant Senate majority leader, 1995-2000; DFL-endorsed candidate for attorney general, 1998; co-chairwoman of Sen. Joe Lieberman’s 2004 presidential campaign in Minnesota; frequent political commentator on radio and television
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